


Somewhere, A Clock Is Ticking

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben Solo Lives, Canonical Character Death, First Time, Grief/Mourning, Hopeful Ending, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Past Torture, Redeemed Ben Solo, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:00:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29266884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: Rey brings Kylo back on the skimmer — to Poe.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron/Kylo Ren
Kudos: 5
Collections: Allbingo, Bad Day Collection





	Somewhere, A Clock Is Ticking

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: We're-gonna-die sex
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Author’s Notes: Title from the Snow Patrol song of the same name.

She brought him back.   
  
Poe can’t say he knows exactly how to feel, in that moment, even as Rey parks the skimmer with Kylo Ren onboard, as Finn tenses, ready to pull out his blaster and fire —  
  
Poe understands why. Finn wants to protect Rey and Poe, two people who mean the galaxy to him. And also remembering what Kylo did to him.   
  
“It’s okay,” Poe says to Finn. “Really. You can put the blaster down."  
  
Slowly, hesitantly, Finn lowers his blaster. “I don’t want him to hurt you or Rey again, Poe.”  
  
“I don’t think he’s in much of a state to be hurting anyone, actually." Poe murmurs. Kylo...he just looks exhausted. Exhausted, and very much defeated. Like he’s got nothing left.   
  
Why now is he acting like this?  
  
***  
  
Poe visits Kylo in the brig, after Rey does. Kylo smiles, if faintly. “Long time, no see,” he says. Poe wonders, in a way, if he’s referring to the time they got stranded together.  
  
That planet. That was a year ago, months after Crait...  
  
“Yeah. Been busy. So...you just now decided to come back?”  
  
“I don’t know what I’ve decided,” Kylo says. “She...I felt her die, Poe. General Organa’s passed away.”  
  
“You’re not even going to call her ‘Mom’?” Poe doesn’t know why that’s the first thing that comes to mind, but here it is.   
  
“Okay, _Mom’s_ passed away,” Kylo snaps. “What difference does it make? She’s still gone. She died for someone who didn’t deserve it too. That being me." He pauses. “She died reaching out to me. Did you know that?"  
  
Poe freezes. “Is that your way of...taunting me?”  
  
“What makes you think I’d ever do that to you?”  
  
"You...” Poe trails off. He doesn’t bring up the fact that Kylo tortured him. Kylo already told him the truth when they were stranded together, had apologized in his way even though he was technically forced into it...  
  
Kylo sighs. “If I’m going to be a prisoner of the Resistance...can I at least see my mother?"  
  
“We’ll see about this prisoner business,” Poe says. “But you can see her.”  
  
***  
  
The reaction when they bring Kylo back to the Resistance is predictable, but Poe stands next to him, hesitantly entwining a hand in his. Kylo flinches, before accepting it.   
  
Poe can already feel Rey’s eyes boring into his back, the jealousy that she feels. What right does she have, though? She doesn’t know Kylo. Not really. He and Ben grew up together. He and Ben went through more together than Rey could ever dream of. Rey just thinks she’s closer to people than she is, and that includes Kylo.   
  
A shadow and a thought...  
  
Honestly, Poe wonders, what’s so special about Rey? What makes her think she’s more special than anyone else? Just because she’s allegedly The Most Powerful Jedi Ever, just because she...  
  
Poe bites down on that last thought. That’s unfair. She did save their lives at Crait. It’s not like she’s some small-name-big-ego type. And Poe doesn’t know what happened between her and Kylo. And who knows about _Poe himself?_ It’s not like Kylo really thinks he matters...does he?  
  
***  
  
“I didn’t think you had it in you,” Rey says, after Poe defends Kylo from a Hosnian refugee angry at him for something Hux did.   
  
“Always the tone of surprise,” Poe mutters.   
  
Rey sighs. “Look, Poe — we may have had our issues in the past, but I never hated you. I’m sorry I gave the impression I did. I guess I’ve been a bit arrogant lately...”  
  
“Hey, you and me both,” Poe says good-naturedly. Kylo’s listening in to their conversation, face carefully neutral; Poe wonders absently how long he took to perfect that expression.   
  
“Still,” Rey says. “Did you and Ben...”  
  
“We grew up together.” Poe says.   
  
_Shared so much together, at least before it was ripped away._  
  
Rey’s eyes widen. “Ri’ia’s shorts,” she says. “That...that was what the code to your X-wing meant. Using Ben’s name...”  
  
Kylo raises an eyebrow at Poe. Poe looks at him, merely nods.   
  
***  
  
“You used my name?” Kylo says, even as they head over towards Leia’s body. It doesn’t look right, her lying cold and still on a bed that looks like a slab. It isn’t right. She should be standing upright, chastising both of them in different ways. Or hugging her son. Or something.   
  
“It seemed like a fitting tribute,” Poe says. “Even after...everything.”   
  
Kylo swallows. “All this time you give me everything and I still have nothing left to give.”  
  
“It doesn’t have to be that way.”  
  
Poe watches as Kylo sits next to Leia. As he touches her hand. He tilts his head, as if he’s hearing her tell him something, and then...  
  
Leia’s body fades. Poe watches, turns to Kylo. “That usually...”  
  
“Yeah,” Kylo says. A sigh. “I was such a fool. Because of me, just about all my family’s gone. I’m the only Skywalker left. And I don’t know if I want...”  
  
“Just because she’s gone doesn’t mean what she fought for is gone. You can still do what’s right.” Poe smiles faintly. “I was redeemed, Ben. You can be too.”  
  
"Where do I start? I didn’t even realize how much bad I was doing until now, and now I have nothing to give...”  
  
“You do,” Poe says. “I love you and believe in you, and how much you can give." Then, “I should have told you that earlier. I know I should have. I suppose...”  
  
"I love you too,” Kylo says. “With everything I have.”  
  
“You’re not afraid to love anymore?”  
  
“With you...I feel safe, being loved by you."  
  
They hug. It’s not a kiss, not a first kiss at least for Kylo, but it’s enough.   
  
***  
  
Seconds tick by. Kylo doesn’t come out of his room for a while — when he does, he says he saw his father. That he doesn’t know where to start, but at least he can do his best to make up for what he’s done. He has the Wayfinder. He has the coordinates to Exegol, so they can attack Palpatine. Stop his attacks. Kijimi’s already fallen, and one planet dying is bad enough.   
  
It’s in private that Kylo speaks to him. “You’re grieving,” he says. “I can feel it. Zorii’s still alive; I can feel it.”  
  
"Oh, thank the stars. It’s just...it feels like everything’s dying violently.”  
  
“Because you love,” Kylo says. “Not just me, but everyone. I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you if not for your heart and spirit.”  
  
“Did you?”  
  
“Always.” Then, “I fear I’ll lose you. Do you...can I kiss you?”  
  
Kylo — Ben — asks permission when he can, until Poe says he can do whatever he wants. Ben’s lips are soft on his, his hands caring in Poe’s hair. Their clothes fall away, and they’re grinding into each other. Groaning.   
  
Ben’s lips and fingers are a different kind of agony — agony that feels so good. When Poe comes, he comes embarrassingly fast.  
  
It comes in handy when Ben — with Poe’s permission — prepares him and fucks him. He’s staring down at Poe, clearly scared of losing control.   
  
“I trust you,” Poe says. “Just move.”  
  
Ben does. Touching Poe between his legs, his cock already sensitive from his earlier orgasm...but stars, it feels amazing when Ben wrings out another orgasm from him. When Ben eventually comes inside Poe, his face a strange combination of peace and pain.   
  
He slips out. Poe wishes, just for a moment, that there was a kinder universe, a universe where they could snuggle in the afterglow. But they have work to do.   
  
They have to kill an Emperor. Not out of hate or revenge, but for the sake of all life.   
  
And Poe knows in that moment that all of them can do it.


End file.
